Sarens Transports and Lifts 630t Tank Modules for Yamal LNG Project

Braving extreme conditions, Sarens works on one of Russia's most
important projects

April 2017: At the edges of the Arctic Circle
lies a land of harsh Arctic winters and extreme isolation. Here,
some 2.500km north of Moscow, the only inhabitants are Nenets, the
region's nomadic reindeer herders. And here, one of the most
important natural gas projects in Russia is taking shape: the USD
25 billion Yamal LNG project, led by Novatek and Total.

Braving the extreme cold, brutal winds, and isolated
terrain, Sarens is transporting and lifting 630t tank modules
for client Entrepose-Vinci, one of the project's main
subcontractors. Vinci is in charge of assembling four
160.000m3 tanks, under the direction
of the Technip-JGC-Chiyoda consortium, which is leading the LNG
plant's installation.

Already, Sarens operators have used the CC8800-1 crane
with boom booster to lift a 300t heat exchanger.

The Sarens team has also completed one of the project's
most challenging lifts: placing a 630t main platform on top of a
tank. The platform, which measures 42m x 25m x 15m, was transported
by SPMT from the Sabetta port site to the project site, a distance
of about 3km. It was then lifted at a 30m radius.

Project manager Abderahim Bouazza says that this is
operationally the most difficult lift, demanding 99.7% of crane
capacity. "As you can imagine, the engineering was very
important for this special lift," says Bouazza.

This lift will be repeated for the other tank modules as
the project continues through July 2017. During this time, the
Sarens team will be staying at the Sabetta compound established by
Entrepose.

"We are proud to be associated with one of the most
important projects in Russia," says Marco Torri, key account
manager. "It is worth mentioning the dedication of all members of
the Sarens crew who worked and are working in Yamal by accepting
the difficult weather, long days and nights because of the
latitude, and an isolated job site."

Sarens equipment

Sarens is using a winter kit that can withstand
temperatures of -30° C, deploying the following equipment at
the project site:

CC8800-1 BSFVL 108m + 12m crane, with 72m boom booster

SPMT Arctic Type with 24 axles and 3 power pack

The crane was transported from Canada, and the boom
booster came from Houston. All material traveled through Antwerp
and was transferred to the client ship for 3-4 weeks of sailing. It
then took three weeks to set up the equipment on-site.